After doing some research I'm leaning towards the HPF FMIC but I'm hanging out for the matching HPF charge pipe they hope to release by December. Anyways, I've noticed you have the HPF FMIC so what are your honest thoughts on it? What power gains, if any did you notice? Is it a noticeable pull, like adding a tune? What were your mods before you put the FMIC on and what were your before and after temps? If you could do it all over again would you choose the HPF? My main reason for doing this mod is to keep the temps down in my car because 104+ degrees F here all the time throughout summer and I don't want to think twice about putting my foot down. I also plan to remove the plastic grill so it's on display too.

After doing some research I'm leaning towards the HPF FMIC but I'm hanging out for the matching HPF charge pipe they hope to release by December. Anyways, I've noticed you have the HPF FMIC so what are your honest thoughts on it? What power gains, if any did you notice? Is it a noticeable pull, like adding a tune? What were your mods before you put the FMIC on and what were your before and after temps? If you could do it all over again would you choose the HPF? My main reason for doing this mod is to keep the temps down in my car because 104+ degrees F here all the time throughout summer and I don't want to think twice about putting my foot down. I also plan to remove the plastic grill so it's on display too.

what's up man,
i have no regrets going for the hpf intercooler. it's probably the best on the market if you look at the specs. flow and pressure drop are equally important in an intercooler as IAT reduction.

i wouldn't wait for the charge pipe unless you really want to. you can add on the charge pipe down the road at any time.

as far as performance, it's not as noticeable as a tune. what an intercooler does offer is performance you can feel throughout the rpm range, especially at the upper end of the rpm range, after a few shifts. if you've ever ripped on your car for a while and noticed that it gets slower, it does.

IAT decay happens when the charge air temp. rises to a certain level. the car is programmed to pull back on boost and timing in order to keep things kosher. an upgraded intercooler doesn't heat soak like the stock intercooler does, so after 15 mins of beating on my car non-stop, it still feels as powerful as the first WOT pull.

Hey, are the turbos the same size and what are their specs? For example my STi had an aftermarket turbo that had a 49lb wheel for intake side and 8cm on the exhaust side.
A co-worker told me that only one comes on with the other to follow which would make me believe it's larger for higher rpms?

what's up man,
i have no regrets going for the hpf intercooler. it's probably the best on the market if you look at the specs. flow and pressure drop are equally important in an intercooler as IAT reduction.

i wouldn't wait for the charge pipe unless you really want to. you can add on the charge pipe down the road at any time.

as far as performance, it's not as noticeable as a tune. what an intercooler does offer is performance you can feel throughout the rpm range, especially at the upper end of the rpm range, after a few shifts. if you've ever ripped on your car for a while and noticed that it gets slower, it does.

IAT decay happens when the charge air temp. rises to a certain level. the car is programmed to pull back on boost and timing in order to keep things kosher. an upgraded intercooler doesn't heat soak like the stock intercooler does, so after 15 mins of beating on my car non-stop, it still feels as powerful as the first WOT pull.

Cheers, I'm familiar with how the fmic works but I wasn't sure how effective it was on our cars and if it was worth prioritising over other mods. Have you been able to dyno any of your gains from the fmic? If not, what's your butt dyno tell you? 1-2 cars lengths in gains on a roll? I've noticed the aftermarket fmic's weight a fair bit more because they are nearly double in size. Do you feel the extra weight or do the gains balance out the weight?

I would love to jump on the HPF FMIC now but funds are tight and I'm hoping there will be an incentive to get the package deal if I purchase it with the charge pipe and blow-off valve when it becomes available.

Hey, are the turbos the same size and what are their specs? For example my STi had an aftermarket turbo that had a 49lb wheel for intake side and 8cm on the exhaust side.
A co-worker told me that only one comes on with the other to follow which would make me believe it's larger for higher rpms?

both turbo's are the same size. if i remember correctly, they're k03's. you can find a spec sheet for the turbos over on e90post. it's pretty technical but it gives you an idea what the turbo's are rated for and their peak efficiency. they are not a sequential setup like your co-worker is talking about, they're the exact same. one turbo for 3 cylinders each.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BMW86

Cheers, I'm familiar with how the fmic works but I wasn't sure how effective it was on our cars and if it was worth prioritising over other mods. Have you been able to dyno any of your gains from the fmic? If not, what's your butt dyno tell you? 1-2 cars lengths in gains on a roll? I've noticed the aftermarket fmic's weight a fair bit more because they are nearly double in size. Do you feel the extra weight or do the gains balance out the weight?

I would love to jump on the HPF FMIC now but funds are tight and I'm hoping there will be an incentive to get the package deal if I purchase it with the charge pipe and blow-off valve when it becomes available.

as far as the weight, i look at that as a good thing. the heavier the intercooler, the more heat it can dissapate. there may be a package deal for the hpf intercooler and charge pipe, who knows. i live in texas, and it gets very hot and humid here. i was happy to improve the cooling capacity of the engine and allow for more consistant power.

it should be noted that an oil catch can should be installed when you do the intercooler. oil blow by can coat your charge pipe and intercooler with oil, lessening the efficiency. i went with the ar design catch can, great buy IMO

both turbo's are the same size. if i remember correctly, they're k03's. you can find a spec sheet for the turbos over on e90post. it's pretty technical but it gives you an idea what the turbo's are rated for and their peak efficiency. they are not a sequential setup like your co-worker is talking about, they're the exact same. one turbo for 3 cylinders each.

as far as the weight, i look at that as a good thing. the heavier the intercooler, the more heat it can dissapate. there may be a package deal for the hpf intercooler and charge pipe, who knows. i live in texas, and it gets very hot and humid here. i was happy to improve the cooling capacity of the engine and allow for more consistant power.

it should be noted that an oil catch can should be installed when you do the intercooler. oil blow by can coat your charge pipe and intercooler with oil, lessening the efficiency. i went with the ar design catch can, great buy IMO

Thanks for the info mate. I looked into getting a catch-can some time ago but the vendor never followed through with sending me the installation instructions. They're bloody expensive too!

Thanks for the info mate. I looked into getting a catch-can some time ago but the vendor never followed through with sending me the installation instructions. They're bloody expensive too!

cheers. i think i paid around $250 for mine. the thing that bugs me is there is ZERO oil in it after 2 months. when i took out the stock intercooler, it was dry as a brand new i.c., and my car has 40k miles. i guess some cars don't suffer from oil blow by like others. i've read how people remove the intercooler or take out the charge pipe only to find them caked in oil on the inside

i'm going back to the 1/4 mile track soon. i'm going to put in ~6 or so gallons of ms109. i haven't adjusted the settings in my procede at all yet. what (if any) changes should i make to the procede to see faster and quicker times/mph? thanks

for anyone looking at a FMI it should be noted that on a stock set up, they are just about useless, maybe a gain of 1-2 horsepower. however, once mated with a tune they become very effective as the air coming in is closer matched to the cooling provided by the intercooler. Adding other bolt-ons only helps this.

The main reason i'm going for the FMI is because of the heat soak, it annoys the hell out of me, i can only accelerate a a few times in a row before i feel like i'm driving a truck. I had a lot of experience with this with a previous car i owned, there are a few tricks to avoid it (still had an uprated intercooler there too), however the ecu is a little more advanced in these cars, and it really cuts the power
back.

if you want the biggest gain on the stock car (no tune and tuned), it's the catless downpipes followed by a downpipe back exhaust system. The catalytic converters are huge power drains on the car. when they were first invented, it was commonly believed that 1 catalytic converter robbed 10% of a cars power, it isn't that extreme anymore since the technology has advanced, but it should be noted that our cars come with 4. Just getting rid of 2 of them will make a world of difference.

Opened up flow in an exhaust system can result in quicker turbo spooling times, sometimes allowing the car to hold power longer, as well as put down bigger numbers.

^agreed, completely. well said. catless downpipes were definitely the biggest power-add on besides my procede tune. i'm holding out on meth until either:

a) my warranty expires
b) the new cooling mist kit is released

meth will be right up there with catless downpipes as far as gains. especially realized gains w/ a tune w/ meth support

the thing i like about the stock exhaust is that it's not horrible. it can support upwards of 400whp without causing too many problems. if the hpf exhaust is too expensive, i may just delete the secondary cats on my stock exhaust and run that still

here in Canada, they can pull us over at the side of the road and do stop checks for cats, so i'm debating just putting high flow cats in place of the secondarys, I know this is an expensive route to go, but i've been down the catless route before, lot's of flames shooting out the back, always having to put around really low RPM if a cop is around so i don't noise pollute or shoot flames.

Catless is also a smelly way to go, and i also remember (because i drive with my windows open a lot) i would have to clean my roof liner once in a while with something like a magic eraser because it would go black from the exhaust after a period of time. So there are some drawbacks. But the power available is increadable. and throttle response is a bit better when completely cleared out